


A Sunrise for Laura

by LadyJanus



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 11:23:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6282667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyJanus/pseuds/LadyJanus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another early BSG effort. The title says it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sunrise for Laura

A Sunrise for Laura

 

 

Laura Roslin sat, as usual, in her chair behind her desk.

 

Unusually, she was staring out the window, a cup of coffee cooling on the desk in front her along with her copy of the _Sacred Scrolls_. It was 05:30 hours.

 

_Gods, what am I doing?_

 

She didn't need to be awake for at least another hour and a half. She had heard Tori come in a short while before, but the younger woman had recognized her need for solitude and left her alone with her thoughts.

 

Her thoughts. A husky voice like golden ambrosia wrapped her in a blanket of warmth. _"Laura."_

 

His face rose up in her mind's eye. _William_.

 

Her mind dwelt on the image of him for a while, caressing the contours of his face as she might have with her hand. She allowed the image to slip from her mind's grasp.

 

In the past few weeks since her … _miracle cure_ … she had begun studying the scriptures again, trying to recapture her confidence, her sense of balance, the scientific certainty of who she was--hard-won over the last fifty-odd years. She smiled, ruefully shaking her head at the absurdity of that thought--using scripture to find a scientific certainty of self--yet it seemed right.

 

So much had changed. She had stood on the threshold of Hades, looked into its murky depths, only to be yanked back. It had nearly destroyed her. And in her most maudlin moments, she felt an indescribable anger towards Baltar, Cottle … and yes, William. That somehow in saving her, in snatching her from death, they had left her broken and violated.

 

Yet William was her saviour. With just a few quiet words, he had a way of pulling her out of that quagmire of oblivion that was so tempting. Gradually she had found her way back to her friendship with him, and regained some sense of who she had been. More than that, he gave her a sense of who she could become, if she chose. Yes, everything had certainly changed.

 

Lately, even her inner voice had changed. Before, it had spoken in her own mental voice, now it spoke to her in Elosha's laughing voice, often mocking her carefully constructed arguments, turning them inside-out, transforming them, cutting them into pieces, then throwing them back at her--enigmatic jigsaw puzzles to be solved. Or were they? She shook her head, as if trying to free her mind of those swirling thoughts.

 

Suddenly she knew why she was there looking out at the stars and not in her bed. She knew what she had been searching for in the depths of space. A sunrise.

 

She closed her eyes. Rituals. They had been on her mind very much lately. Back home on Caprica, she had a habit of rising early and going out on her balcony to watch the sunrise. She missed the extravagant colours and the warmth they filled her with, even in the middle of winter.  

 

She opened her eyes. She could see it now, bask in its glow, and in a moment it was gone, but she knew she would see it again tomorrow. A sudden laugh informed her that the early birds were beginning rise.

 

#

 

Eight hours later, Laura again sat behind her desk, ostensibly studying the daily reports that Tori had compiled regarding the Fleet's supply situation. The black market seemed to be under control for now, but it still galled her that Lee had allowed it to continue and that William didn't seem overly concerned.

 

William Adama. Her thoughts kept returning to him today. In fact, he occupied much of her thoughts lately, and even so she continued to deny herself exploration of those thoughts, and more dangerously, those feelings he evoked in her. Even without the impending elections in a few weeks, there was still so much to do--so many other important things to think about, yet she couldn't help but think about him … daydream about him like some hormone-crazed adolescent!

 

Perhaps it was that chance remark Cottle had made during her follow-up mammographic exam a few days ago that had drawn her mind to dwell on thoughts of the Fleet's Admiral. The acerbic doctor had been complaining loudly about crew members who were trying to ditch their physicals. Apparently Bill had come up with a second excuse in as many days to get out of it, but what the doctor said next had disconcerted her enough that she moved, ruining his scan.

_"With all the time he spent in life station while you were in here, I should have done his physical then. Man made a complete nuisance of himself; I couldn't get him out from under-foot ... Madam President, you will have to remain still." He frowned impatiently, "Now I have to repeat the scan."_

_It flashed across her mind what she had not seen, what she had refused to see in his reports during the time she'd been dying. She felt her anger beginning to rise. He had put his feelings for her ahead of his duty, put the Fleet at risk!_

_No that last part was unfair, she decided as she calmed herself down. He had competent people who knew their jobs and did them well; the Fleet had never been in danger. Still, it bothered her deeply that he had cared for her so much. She was the President and he was her Fleet Admiral, charged with defending the remnants of humanity. They couldn't afford that kind of distraction; she couldn't afford it._

_"Sorry, Doctor, I'll see that he comes in tomorrow," she said quickly to cover her dismay._

 

Laura realized with a start she had flipped through most of the information without reading it. She quickly marshalled her wandering thoughts, took a sip of her coffee, and turned back to the report--determined to get through it.

 

#

 

Later, she again sat alone in her dim living quarters toying with the last of her meal. Ordinarily she would have braved the main cabin of Colonial One, but she didn't feel like company tonight. It had been an uneventful day, except for her constant thoughts of William Adama.

 

She pushed the remnants of her dinner aside, got up and went over to sit on her couch, which also served as her bed. She sat down and drew her knees up beneath her chin.

 

Since returning from the dead, she had been determined to keep nothing but friendship between them. During her long, painful illness, her feelings for him had slowly blossomed, as he had revealed more and more of himself to her, culminating in that gentle, beautiful kiss when she'd made him Admiral. And just when she had begun to accept that she would die, just when she'd reached the realisation that at the end of her life there was no reason not to accept him into her heart, _frakking_ Baltar had found a cure for her.

 

 _Hybrid Cylon blood._ It seemed that she couldn't get away from the damned Cylons; she was doomed to have her fate always intertwined with them. Now she owed them her life.

 

 _Life._ It had forced her and William to return to their roles of President and Fleet Admiral. They both understood implicitly that they couldn't afford to be consumed with one another, to have their hearts in their throats each time the enemy attacked. Too many people depended on the President and the Fleet Admiral.

_"And who depends on Laura and William?"_ Elosha's voice laughed in her mind. Laura got up and began clearing away her dishes, trying to turn her thoughts to other things. _"What does William mean to Laura and Laura to William?"_

 

Lost in these disturbing thoughts, it took her a few seconds to realise someone was knocking, requesting entrance into her private space. Laura composed herself and called for her visitor to come in. William walked through the curtains separating her office from her living quarters.

 

She covered her surprise quickly with a veil of formality and smiled. "Admiral, what can I do for you?"

 

She gestured for him to take a seat and then settled into the chair opposite him.

 

William hesitated slightly. "Laura, is there anything wrong, anything you want to talk about? You've seemed very preoccupied lately."

 

_Of course he would notice; he was nothing if not perceptive._

 

He waited patiently as the silence stretched out between them, watching the emotions that raced across her mobile face.

 

Laura looked into his eyes and found she could not put him off. "William," she said softly. "What..."

 

She broke off, finding she could not put into words what she wanted to say to him. She stood up and went over to the window, her back to him. Suddenly he was behind her, his hand on her shoulder, so unbearably close.

 

"Madam President, what is it?" His concern washed over her, but his use of her title saddened her. She turn to face him, her hands on his chest, she looked into his eyes. He returned her gaze expectantly, barely seeming to breathe.

 

"What does Laura mean to William?" she whispered.

 

#

 

William caught his breath, barely able to believe what she was asking, and answered with a single word, _"Everything."_

 

He drew her into him, enveloping her in his arms. She returned his embrace and he became aware that she was crying. He lifted her face and wiped away her tears; she bought her lips up to his. Their kisses at first were soft, tentative--slowly gathering intensity, until needing to breathe, they broke apart. She laid her head against his heaving chest, trying to catch her own laboured breath. William stroked her auburn hair gently and whispered her name into its soft waves.

 

He didn't know what had brought him to her this night; it was more than simple concern, yet he could not name it. They stood silhouetted in the light of the stars, neither wanting to speak, to break their silent communion.

 

After an eternity captured in moments, she reached up and caressed his face, tracing each plane, each curve. He kissed her again, hard and passionate, and she returned it with all her yearning, her hands dancing up and down his back. She slipped them beneath his uniform to stroke his skin. He moaned as she made contact, and broke his mouth away to trail kisses down the line of her neck. He fumbled with the buttons of her jacket and they both broke down laughing. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

 

"I don't know how the human species ever survived these wretched things," he said laughing as he caught her up in his arms.

 

He cradled her in his lap as he sat down on the edge of her bed, and covered her upper body with tender kisses as he managed to strip her to the waist. Capturing his mouth again, she turned to straddle him, removing his jacket and shirt as quickly as possible. Once his hands were free, he cupped her breasts, rolling the nipples between his fingers, and when his mouth replaced his hands, she gasped, moaning his name brokenly.

 

"William ... _ohhh_ …"

 

He gently rolled her beneath him, and her hair fanned out on the white pillows, a pool of burnished copper in the dim light. He gazed into her green eyes, drowning in their depths.

 

"Laura," he breathed her name, and was suddenly afraid--perhaps they were moving too quickly, but he had waited for this for so long. "I love you," he whispered.

 

"I love you too, William. I love you."

 

They spoke little, spending the next few minutes exploring each other's bodies, removing the rest of their clothing as they saw fit, luxuriating in each moment and getting to know one another. There was no hurry in their lovemaking, each taking the time to explore and learn the other. Looking into her eyes, he saw nothing there but love and absolute trust.

 

He began to speak, but she placed her fingers over his mouth. Bringing his face down to hers, she kissed him passionately, drinking in his essences thirstily. Slowly, he entered her; she raised her hips to meet him. He paused, giving her a few moments to get used to him before moving. Gradually, their gentle rocking became more urgent, he pulled her body closer to his, and wrapping her arms tightly around him, she moaned passionately as she buried her face into his shoulder.

 

Together, they scaled the walls of pure emotion--climbing higher and higher--and when they reached the pinnacle, Laura threw her head back and cried out as her world exploded. His wordless cry joined hers a moment later and shaking they clung to each other as if they were the only two people in the universe.

 

#

 

They lay face to face on the narrow bunk, holding each other, their bodies pressed close. "You're so beautiful, Laura," he whispered.

 

She pulled back a little to gaze into his eyes; she looked almost surprised … as if she'd never been told. Her eyes were still moist; he traced her swollen lips lightly with a finger and wondered if all the men in her life could have been such idiots that they would not have told her every time they held her in their arms.

 

 _Damn them! May the Gods damn them all_ , he thought angrily.

 

"What do we do now?" he asked banishing his momentary anger; he knew that she needed to talk.

 

"I don't know, Bill, I don't know. I never expected this to happen." Her gaze left his face. "In fact, I did everything in my power to keep it from happening," she admitted hoarsely. She shifted her gaze back to him. "I'm frightened; I don't know what to do next. But I also know that I love you and that we can't go back to the way things were before. I don't want to. We'll just have to work through it." She kissed his fingertips and laced her fingers through his.

 

"Ever onward?" she asked huskily.

 

"Ever onward, Laura," he answered as he pulled her closer and kissed her softly. "Ever forward."

 

#

 

For the next few weeks the President and the Admiral scrupulously adhered to protocols while on duty, becoming more formal than they had ever been, even at the beginning of their unlikely partnership. As a result, they found themselves under increasingly puzzled scrutiny from their friends. But those closest to them--and inevitably _Glactica's_ crew--figured it out fairly quickly and even went so far as to actively cover for them.

 

They ate their dinners together in quiet companionship, or with Lee and Kara--and occasionally Saul Tigh--discussing daily events.

 

When alone, they discussed their relationship and what changes it would bring. She brought to him her fears about what it would mean for both of them professionally once it became common knowledge, and he did his best to reassure her, fearful she would use their concerns as an excuse to end it.

 

They decided to take it as slowly and carefully as possible, and as time passed, they became more secure in their love. They discretely slipped into each other's quarters, exploring this new relationship with heady excitement. And as she came to know this enigmatic man, he came to know her and when she simply wanted to be held.

 

#

 

The first time the nightmares came, he was awakened from a deep sleep by a stifled, far-away scream. Fighting his way to consciousness, he felt her go rigid next to him, and then carefully steal out of his rack, as not to wake him. He sat up as she shakily donned her robe.

 

"Laura."  

 

At the sound of soft voice, she stopped, her back still turned to him and in the eloquent silence, he could hear the course of her pain. He stood behind her a moment, afraid to touch her, afraid of hurting her--then he gently pulled her into the safety of his arms. They didn't speak, that would come later; he simply held her until the alarm called them both to duty.

 

#

 

It was William who found her a sunrise--in the old astrogation observatory that hadn't been used in years. In the old days, navigators had used it to double-check their jump vectors, but _Galactica_ hadn't jumped in almost a decade before the Cylon attack, and now, so far beyond familiar mapped stars and constellations, it simply wasn't needed.

 

Laura had awakened screaming from her recurrent nightmare of metamorphosing into a Cylon. As he held her, she'd shared with him her nearly obsessive need to see a sunrise; the last time she'd seen a sunrise was on Kobol, and even then, it had been obscured by rain and black clouds. He didn’t know what made him think of the observatory, but he'd known instinctively that it was what she would need.

 

"Come on, get dressed," he said, getting up and hauling on his uniform.

 

She laughed through her tears. "It's the middle of the night--this is hardly the time to go traipsing about the ship, Bill," she replied. "I thought we agreed to be discrete."

 

He chuckled softly as he sat down on the edge of the bed to put on his shoes. "With your shuttle parked on my flight deck all night?" he quipped. "I think that most of my people know exactly what goes on during these all-nighters, Madam President." She blushed prettily and he kissed her. "Now get dressed. You wanted a sunrise; well I'm going to give you a whole galaxy of sunrises, love."

 

She stared at him in surprise for a long moment, and then clearly intrigued she gathered up her clothing and ducked into his bathroom.

 

Laura had had to hurry along _Galactica's_ corridors at a rather undignified trot in order to keep up with him. "Where are we going?" she asked, breathless and impatient.

 

"You'll see," was his only answer.

 

Finally, after climbing a steep flight of stairs, he opened a small hatch and ushered her into the darkened room. He spent a few minutes fumbling for the light switch; when it came on, it bathed the room in dim red light. He stumbled up the steps of the observation platform and over to the control console, praying that he still remembered--after all these years--how to work the damned thing. Before starting, he took a moment to route an order to the combat information centre that he'd be testing the observatory's system and occasionally taking a sighting; no need to startle the officer of the deck needlessly.

 

It took him a couple of tries to take a sighting on a star, figure out the magnification controls and then reverse the imaging parameters, before finally adding the false-colour. She stood at his shoulder, watching him work, a small smile of bemusement hovering on her lips.

 

Satisfied at last that the controls were set properly, he pressed the button to retract the armour plating over the observation dome. Pulling her down into his lap, he directed her gaze upwards.

 

"Watch," he husked in her ear.

 

It began with a glimmer of white light at the edge of the dome against the darkness. Suddenly, brilliant hues splashed across the sky gathering intensity. Pink, deep purple--a thousand shades of orange, mauve and violet, a hint of green and yellow. A ribbon of scarlet threaded through the dancing veils of an aurora-clad sun.

 

And Laura, tears flowing down her cheeks, forgot there was no _sky_ … and saw only _sunrise_.

 

He felt her shaking in his arms and for a moment, he feared that he'd offended her, or worse disappointed her with this pitiful simulacrum.

 

"Thank you," she said, turning her beautiful, tear-stained face to drop a gentle kiss on his lips. She smiled snuggled closer into him. "Thank you," she whispered again, turning her gaze back to her sunrise.

 

"All the stars in the heavens are yours for the asking," he quoted Omeros Arkady, his favourite poet. "You have only to choose, my love, you have only to choose."

 

#

 

And so it became their ritual. Whenever she was on _Galactica_ , and every time they got the chance, they woke up early to watch a sunrise together.

 

That was how Lee and Kara found them early one morning.

 

Laura sat on William's lap, her head resting on his shoulder; his arms circled her waist, his chin resting lightly against her hair.

 

Lee's strangled cry of surprise broke the spell and the two sprang apart. They hurriedly smoothed their clothes, and William quickly shut down the simulation before they descended the observatory platform. Both were clearly disconcerted as they approached the two young people. Laura's face was flushed; William had turned a distinctly darker shade under his ruddy tan.

 

"Lee ... Kara ..." Laura cast about for an explanation and found that she couldn't think of even a semblance of one. She looked miserably at William.

 

"Madam President, Admiral Adama, you don't have to explain anything," Kara said quickly, with a typical _"Starbuck"_ grin.

           

"It isn't any of our business," Lee joined in as soon as he regained his composure. "Sorry to interrupt, but we had an early meeting, sir. When you didn't show up … well, CIC said that you were up here taking a sighting." He chuckled, "Anyway, congratulations, Dad, Laura."

 

"Thank you for understanding, son," William said quietly. "Thank you both for understanding." He placed his hand on Laura's shoulder, and hers rose unconsciously to cover it.

 

Laura regarded them with a grateful smile. "Yes, thank you," she said.

 

"Well, we'll be going now," William continued. "Lee, I'll see you in about forty-five minutes back in CIC."

 

"Yes, sir," Lee replied.

 

#

 

William watched her pace the length of his quarters and waited for her to gather her thoughts. She stopped finally, sat down on the couch next to him and gave him a soft half smile.

 

"I suppose that it was only a matter of time before someone caught us," she said ruefully. "I just wish it hadn't happened so soon."

 

"I think that we can trust Lee and Kara to keep this incident to themselves," he replied. "But it's not like the crew doesn't already know we're together, and it's impossible to keep a secret for long."

 

"I know," she replied. "And it's probably a good idea to bring Tori into the loop, although knowing her--she's figured it out already." She smiled at him as she massaged her temple. "Oh Bill ... things can certainly get complicated in very short order."

 

William turned her to face away from him and began to massage her neck and shoulders. He could feel her beginning to relax.

 

"Things don't have to get complicated, Laura," he said quietly. "In most cases, they'll only get as complicated as you make them, and you tend to be hard on yourself," he admonished, but she could hear the smile in his voice. "Remember what we discussed. Trust your instincts and just take it one step at a time, try not to worry so much." He finished her massage and kissed her neck just above her collar.

 

"How is that?" he asked impishly as she turned her head to face him.

           

"Wonderful," she answered softly. "Thank you," she said as she brushed a light kiss across his lips.

 

"We have half an hour before my duty shift," he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

 

"Oh no you don't, and behave yourself," she countered with a laugh. She leaned closer to his ear and continued in a seductively low voice, "Anyway, half an hour is definitely not enough time for what I have in mind for you."

 

He drew away from her and grinned, "All right, all right ... _uncle_." His expression became a little more serious as she moved towards his desk to gather up her briefcase and files. "When will you talk to Tori?"

 

"This evening, before dinner--I need some time to think." She looked up at him and smiled, looking as if lit up from within. His breath caught. There was always this deep core of womanliness in her; it drew him like a proverbial moth to a flame. "Can I expect you tonight?" she asked, her breathy voice a curious mixture of shy expectation and come-hither invitation.

 

Holding her gaze, he rose from the couch and walked over to her. Tracing her jaw line lightly with one finger, he replied, "Definitely." Laughing softly, he eyed the hatch with a theatrical sigh. "And now, I think I'll go start my shift a little early before I get any more ideas."

 

As he turned to leave, she caught his hand and pulled him close. She laid her head on his shoulder and sank deeper into his embrace. After a few moments of just holding each other, she looked up with shining eyes and said softly, "Oh Bill, for the first time in a long time, I think that no matter what happens--we'll be all right."

 

He kissed the top of her head. "For you, my Laura, the sun will always rise."

 


End file.
